The Nation reports that the deputy Senate president Ike Ekweremadu has denied media reports that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is factionalised. Speaking to newsmen at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, on arrival from Port-Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, where he attended the national convention, Ekweremadu however admited there are “contending interests” in the party. The deputy Senate president who was in the company of caretaker chairman Senator Ahmed Makarfi, said:
“What exists within the PDP are only contending interests, which is normal in any political family. For the purpose of clarification, there are no factions within the PDP family as I speak. What we have are contending interests. Such is common in any party.”
“Yes, there were some disagreements, but the good thing is that we have not allowed such disagreements to degenerate into a major crisis that would warrant factions. Instead, what happened in Port-Harcourt at the weekend further confirms PDP’s capacity to resolve issues in favour of lay down precepts and in the overall interest of our great party and nation.”
“I am sure what happened in Port-Harcourt remains a disappointment for those who were expectant of major crisis and factions in the PDP because we emerged from the convention more determined to change the change, to save our economy, reposition the electoral process, and make life more bearable for the suffering masses of Nigeria again.”
It is worthy of note that two parallel PDP conventions, held last Saturday, in Port Harcourt and Abuja, produced two different leaders. While the party’s national chairman by Ali Sheriff, was sacked and replaced with Ahmed Makarfi, a former Kaduna state governor in Port Harcourt, the Abuja convention appointed a former Deputy Senate President, Ibrahim Mantu, as acting national chairman.